So, filled with enthusiasm following discussion with Teamyakima and his ambitious plan to build a large Chinese exhibition layout, the other night I dug out various papers and was reminiscing about Changchun, and thought I’d finish off a long stalled project.

Changchun, by the end of it’s exhibition life, had three completed pacifics:

SL 681 – supershine SL pacific, one of Jiilin’s finest! Always my favourite engine, this was really the show pony of the layout - we had the pleasure of seeing one of these running on our visit, but sadly it was nowhere near the lovely condition they were in the late 80’s, so this one had to do for me:

SL7 – the streamlined preserved pacific, quite a beast….

RM 1093 – Bog standard RM pacific, once very common around Changchun – all gone by the time we were there.

But there was another, which was never finished, another RM pacific, which I started, but never got round to finishing by the time the layout was retired. I thought it might be worth digging it out of store afer near enough 12 years, and see if I could finish it off, to make it four pacifics!

All of these models were build using the IHC/Mehano pacific as a basis. Unlike the IHC 2-8-2(I built 2x JF using these), the pacific is pretty much exact for a RM/SL chassis and tender, and is a relatively easy conversion using the existing body, tender (chassis and body for the SL – pretty much as is!, tender chassis with new body for the RM). A few years ago these could be picked up for around £25 in the UK, they’re still pretty cheap, but a cost a little more now.

The photos show the stage the RM had reached before going into store. The tender is pretty much complete, just needs some ladders on the tender, rear lamp and some minor detailing and it’s good to be painted straight away.

The loco chassis had a lost wax brass cow catcher fitted, but was otherwise unchanged.

Loco body has had all of the detail removed, new chimney and skyliner casing fitted, part of the new cab and new running plates fitted. Some other basic details like handrails also added.

The key remaining parts to complete are the smoke deflectors, running plates to buffer beam, something round the cab, pipework and the boxpok wheels – all the IHC models are fitted with spoked wheels, and this is fine for some of the SL’s but not the RM – iirc this is what caused the project to stall and go into storage.

In the intervening period, I’ve made progress with using the developing technology of 3d printing to develop a projects, including the C4, and if I was starting from scratch, I may well have designed a complete 1 piece body to go on the IHC chassis. But, I intend to use 3d printing for a few of the parts, and take it forward as follows:

Boxpok wheels: Remove some of the spokes, and reduce depth of the others such that a 1mm thick boxpok overlay will fit in each of the wheels. This should work, retain the strength in the wheels as they are and give the full boxpok look

Running plate: 3d print a couple of smoke deflectors and associated running plate, in one piece, for strength – always a bit of a weak spot at the front of the SL.

Cab: finish off with plasticard, and maybe 3d print a new cab roof

Detail: Various brass, plastic and wire parts as appropriate, eg for the electric generator

Tender: A few details to be completed before being painted.

Anyhow, hope that’s of interest, I’ll post up a few pictures as it develops.

Not good on the C4 I'm afraid. I have a prototype, however, it appears the boiler is much higher set than the PX48, so it's not a simple matter to get it right. So, haven't done much to it since I received the prototype, as I'm a bit stuck! IF anyone has any good photos of a C4, or even a drawing, they'd be very gratefully received!

Photos of C4 are scarce to find in books dealing with narrow gauge railroads in China.
Here is the sole photo of a C4 in Xibu depot that I found in the book "Industrial Locomotives of the Peoples Republic of China" compiled by R.N. Pritchard from the Industrial Railway Society.

C4 7216 at Xibu in 1991

C4 7216 at Xibu in 1991 r.jpg (243.21 KiB) Viewed 3218 times

C4 were used at least on the Meixian Provincial Railway with the following roaster in 1995 :
. 7004-7005
. 7107-7114
. 7215-7218
. 7326

R.N. Pritchard is mentioning in the text that the basis of the C4 was "probably" the Polish Px-48 class called BL class in China. This comment suggests that the C4 wasn't a simple copy of the Px-48 class but indeed a derived design.

Some good news....parts for the RM are on their way from shapeways. I've used the print it anyway option as some of the parts are quite thin - particularly the boxpok wheels and smoke deflectors! I'll post an update when I know how they've turned out....